


Harry Potter and the Chambers of Slytherin.

by Saugustine



Series: Chaos Attracts Change [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Loki: Agent of Asgard, Marvel
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Book 2: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Child Abuse, Crossover, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Female Loki (Marvel), Flashbacks, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, PTSD, Past Child Abuse, Slow Build, Trauma, all the feels
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:33:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24428812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saugustine/pseuds/Saugustine
Summary: *Please see ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Twin’ before continuing the story here*After Harry's first year in the house of Slytherin with the twins Ankaa (Loki) and Draco Malfoy, he had thought he had found a family.  Now though, he will be forced to face reality by going home to face his Aunt and Uncle.  He will not be going alone.  Professor Snape had been 'ordered' to ensure his safety due to the attack on Harry's life by Voldemort the previous year.Many questions remain though.  Will Ankaa/Loki be able to control her outbursts of deadly, accidental magic?  Can Harry and Draco keep people from discovering her dark secret about her panic attacks?  And what is with the mysteriously blank diary in Lucius Malfoy's vault?
Relationships: Draco Malfoy & Harry Potter, Harry Potter & Severus Snape, Loki (Marvel) & Harry Potter, Loki (Marvel) & Severus Snape
Series: Chaos Attracts Change [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1219481
Comments: 25
Kudos: 68





	1. Pictures are Worth a Thousand Memories

Harry:

Harry lay sprawled on his bed staring at the domed ceiling of his dorm room, a packed rucksack by his feet. This past summer break had been the best of his life. He turned his head to look at the framed photos on his nightstand depicting his friends and Professor Snape standing on the beach. He knew there were more behind it in the frame, but there was only so much room on the small table and he had had a lot of adventures. 

He could hardly believe his eyes when he stepped out of the floo to visit his friends at their summer ‘cabin’. He had been expecting it to be large based off of Draco’s descriptions, but he had expected something made of logs, or ruff stones like an oversized cottage. Their cabin looked more like someone had deconstructed a castle and reused the parts to make a masterfully crafted estate. 

The surrounding land was rimmed by a three foot tall white stone fence, that only opened at the intricate woven black wrought iron gates in the front. The main ‘cabin’ was built from neat white bricks, that still gave off a sense of old world charm. The roof and shutters were made of mottled dark grey and black woods that contrasted nicely with the white brickwork. The innumerable assortment of four paned windows, however, were trimmed in a striking emerald green that popped against the monochromatic architecture. Above the large, heavy double doors, the roof steepled above two intricate, trapezoidal shaped stained glass windows. 

Behind the main house stood an assortment of smaller buildings scattered among the manicured lawns and decorative landscaped gardens. In the far back on the edge of the tallest cliff, Professor Snape had pointed out a circular one story building that was to be the guest house they would stay in. All around the outer wall was broken by tall thin windows, with very few bricks between them. The effect was that the building’s walls seemed to be only made of glass except for the large double doors. Behind the house, the sheer cliff face dropped down to a black sand beach, that could only be reached by the black wrought iron spiral staircase behind the guest house. The beach had to have been made by magic, because the rocky cliffs to either side dropped directly into the ocean and the sand was softer than any other beach in the world. 

Harry could have stayed at that beach all day every day for the whole week! Ankaa and Draco had even helped him start learning how to swim (Uncle Vernon had never wanted to spend the money on him for lessons). He was still a pretty bad swimmer, but at least now if he tripped and fell into Hogwarts’ lake he probably wouldn’t drown...probably. He never was able to go any deeper than the waist deep shallows. Ankaa and Draco hoped that next year he would be able to relax enough to float instead of sink. They wanted to teach him to snorkel so he could see the coral reef that lay just past the drop off. But without a lot more practice that was out of the question and as he had expected, Professor Snape did not allow him to slack off at the beach every day. Instead he made sure that he came in to the guest house to study for at least three hours a day, and made sure he came up to reapply the sun blocking potion regularly. Harry was surprised to see how much of a mother hen the potions master could be, but then again, with his fair skin the Professor probably started to burn the moment he stepped into the sun. Professor Snape seemed to be a lot more relaxed away from Hogwarts though, and Harry had been happy to get to spend some quiet time playing chess with the man he had once found so intimidating. 

Harry wished the packed bag by his feet was for another trip to visit his friends, but it was the last week of summer break. Tomorrow he would be leaving with the Professor to spend his last week of summer with his relatives. There was no point brooding about it now. After all, he was starting to see that Professor Snape wasn’t as mean as he always pretended to be. He trusted that the Professor would keep anything bad from happening to him while he was with the Dursleys. 

Harry jumped when a knock sounded at his door and the person he had just been thinking about came in. “You're already packed for tomorrow?” he asked. 

He sat up trying to hide his apprehension for the upcoming trip. “Yeah, you said we would be doing a lot of extra studying today and tomorrow morning I have to retake my exams so I can move up to second year. I didn’t want to forget anything because of my nerves,” he explained. 

“Yes, but before we get started I have something for you,” said Snape as he ran a hand through his black hair. He cautiously came over to sit next to Harry on the bed, before pulling a silver wrapped package from under his robes. “I know your birthday isn’t for another two days, but I thought I would give this to you before you left.” 

Harry stared at his reflection in the metallic paper for a long moment, “Thank you, sir.” He had never expected anything on his birthday, let alone from the tall darkly clad potions master. 

“You don’t have to open it now,” said Snape awkwardly into the long silence. 

“No, I want to open it,” responded Harry quickly. With painstaking care he gently removed the wrappings and folded them on the bed. Inside was a large leather bound book. 

“Hagrid had mentioned that you didn’t have any pictures of your parents,” Snape explained, “So I asked some of Lily’s old friends if they had any…” 

Harry’s eyes grew wide before he eagerly flipped open the album to look at the moving pictures of Lily and James Potter. Their miniature forms smiled and waved from the pages as tears filled his eyes. “Thank you, sir.” 

  
  


“You're quite welcome, Harry.” he said. 

They sat in silence as Harry turned the pages, taking the time to savor every picture. When he came to the last section of the book he stopped. The last four pages were filled with pictures of his mother as she grew up. In every one of the pictures she shared the frame with a dower looking boy with black hair that she was trying to get to smile. In a few he watched her give up with a grumpy expression that would cause the boy to finally snicker. As soon as she would see the faintest hint of his smile she would beem back at him before slinging an arm around him to turn together to the camera. 

Harry brushed a finger down the length of the boy’s hawk-like nose. “You knew my mother?” he asked looking up with wide green eyes. Lily’s eyes. 

“Yes, I knew her,” he whispered. 

“How?”

Snape sighed, “My home life was not ideal growing up and your mother’s family was kind to me. We were practically inseparable…”

Harry’s eyes sparkled, “That must mean you knew my father too!”

Snape pinched the bridge of his nose like he was feeling a headache coming on. “Yes, well, he and I were never on the best of terms.” 

“Oh,” said Harry looking down. “What happened then?”

“It led to an argument… I felt that she was choosing him over our friendship.” He raised his head to look at the skylight. “I did a lot of stupid thing out of anger that I regret now, but non more than allowing our friendship to end because of a petty argument,” he finished. 

Harry wrapped his arms around the tall man. “She would have forgiven you,” he said, completely sure of his words' truth. 

The awkward man patted Harry gently on the back as he muttered under his breath, “I hope so…” 

They sat there for a long moment before Harry sat up and turned to the back of the album, “Is there a way to add more pages?” 

In answer, Snape merely waved his wand and six empty pages appeared in the back of the book. Harry reached for the frame on his nightstand and pulled out all the extra pictures. They depicted his first attempts at swimming, a few showed Gabriel Rowle teaching him to play Quidditch, another showed the day that Fred and George had snuck into Hogwarts in a flying car to surprise Harry, and one showed Harry and Snape bowed in concentration over a chess board. Harry took out each one and placed it in the album, before laying it on the bedside table where he could look at it every night. 

“There, now it has pictures of _all_ my family,” he said as he watched Snape fidget and try to hide his faint blush.

He turned to look at the Professor as he stood clearing his throat. “We’d best be off now, or we’ll be late for your studies,” he said. 

As Harry stood and left with him to head to the library, he privately wondered how you could be late to study? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if you see any more opportunities for tags in this story. This is my first Harry Potter fanfic series so I don’t know what to call everything and I definitely don’t have it all planned out. So if you see something that needs tagged at any point in the story let me know!


	2. Happy Birthday Harry!

Harry:

Harry followed the potions master through the maze of bookshelves towards their usual studying nook. He had gotten used to the quiet of Hogwarts’ halls. It was going to be weird coming back to them full of students in just two weeks. He felt claustrophobic just thinking about all those students crammed into the shifting staircases! At least this would be his second year at Hogwarts, so he would at least know how to find all his classes and to watch out for the trick step on the last staircase. 

Speaking of knowing his way around, it seemed odd that after telling Harry that they were going to be late for his studies, that now Professor Snape was taking him the long way through the stacks of books to their usual studying nook in the back of the library. They came around the last row of shelves and Harry felt the odd sensation of his ears popping followed by a rowr of noise. 

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY!!!”

Couches and recliners had been moved out of the way for a table displaying a cake with 12 candles and a pile of presents surrounded by people clapping and cheering. Ankaa and Draco rushed forward to hug him as their parents, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, stood nearby. Hermione stood by her fellow Ravenclaw, Willow Song and the Hufflepuff, Neville Longbottom over by the table of presents. Harry smiled to see the older student, Prefect Gabriel Rowle waving to him from next to Fred and George Weasly as well as a few of the other Slytherins in his year; Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, and Daphne Greengrass. All his friends, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and even Gryffindor, all together in one spot just to wish him a happy birthday. 

Harry’s eyes filled with tears as he hugged his two best friends back. “What are you all doing here?”

“We came to see you of course,” scoffed Draco. 

“We’ve been missing you,” Ankaa snickered as she continued, “He has been so glum that father scolded him for moping around the house!”

Draco blushed scarlet, “I have not! It’s just boring going to the beach by myself. You have been gone a lot, visiting the mind healer all the way in London two days a week!” 

Harry laughed. “What, you can’t go two days without your better half?” he teased. 

Draco made a show of being offended, crossing his arms and sticking his nose in the air. “What is that supposed to mean? I am obviously superior,” he snorted, “Besides I wouldn’t be so bored if my brother would come to visit more often.” 

Harry poked him in his side, where he knew Draco was ticklish. The other boy yelped and jumped back. “Don’t worry, I’ll be able to pester you everyday when we are back living in the dorms together in two weeks. I’m sure I can keep you entertained,” said Harry with a mischievous smile. 

Draco jumped again when Fred and George came out of nowhere to each drop a hand on his shoulders at the same time. “I’m sure you’ll help us stay entertained as well,” they said in unison. 

Harry smiled up at the two tall Gryffindors. They had grown a lot taller this summer. They seemed to tower over Harry. He privately wondered if he was ever going to grow…

Harry still couldn’t believe that they had managed to sneak into the school in a flying car to see him this summer. He had just been beginning to learn how to play Quidditch, and he, Gabriel, Neville, and Willow were playing a shortened version called Quiggle because they didn’t have enough people to play a real Quidditch match. In this version everyone is divided into two equal teams. Then, everyone plays the role of the chasers in an all out, free for all style of the game. Gabriel chose to play with Neville on his team as Neville was too afraid of heights to do much more than hover near the ground and refuse to let go of the broom handle to catch any ball that might come his way. Willow was getting the hang of flying rather quickly despite only having started flying lessons with Madam Hooch two weeks ago, but the game was mostly Harry against Gabriel. Harry was actually doing pretty well against the older Prefect when the twin’s car came careening out of the sky. 

Fred and George were ecstatic to find that Harry was taking a liking for their favorite sport. They quickly joined the fun by teaming up against Harry and Gabriel, while Willow and Neville opted to sit on the sidelines and watch. What came to pass was the most thrilling match Harry had ever had, ending in him scoring the winning point by diving out of the sky and flying through the small score hoop, hugging the ball tightly to his chest. Something only someone as small as Harry could do. 

Harry was jolted out of his memory by Fred and George’s harmonic laugh at something Draco had said. “Did your father ever figure out who stole his car?” Harry asked. 

They both frowned. “He wouldn’t have,” said George. “If ickle Ronie hadn’t seen us through his window and blabbed to our brother, Percey.” 

Fred rolled his eyes, “Percey just became a ‘Prefect.’ He couldn’t wait to report his first Hogwarts infraction and squealed immediately.” 

Harry blanched as he thought of what Uncle Vernon would do if he found out Harry had taken his car for a joy ride. “Were you punished badly?” he asked nervously. He hoped they hadn’t gotten hurt because they came to see him. 

“Mum made us degnome the entire garden!” Exclaimed George. 

Harry’s eyes grew wide as he imagined a horde of troll or goblin like creatures attacking his friends. 

Seeing his alarm Ankaa stepped in to explain, “They’re not so dangerous, Harry. There sort of like cranky magical moles.” 

“Yeah,” said Fred, “ We even created a game to see who could throw them the farthest.”

Harry stayed a little longer to chat with the Weasley twins before moving on to talk to Neville Longbottom and Willow Song. 

Neville had been working very hard this summer with his Head of House, Professor Pomona Sprout. As the only other Earth Empath in Britain, Professor Sprout was doing her best to teach Neville about his unique gift. Because she did not have the benefit of having someone to teach her, and every Earth Empath had different gifts save for commonly being able to communicate with plants through emotions, they were only making slow progress. 

Neville spent most of his time in the green houses at Hogwarts. Over the summer, Harry had spent many afternoons helping Neville repot and care for plants. It always made Harry smile to see the relaxed expression that was so rare for the normally anxious boy. Willow, as one of only four students staying at Hogwarts over the summer, and a new transfer from Beauxbatons Academy of Magic had quickly taken the opportunity to get to know the two other second year students. 

Willow had transferred to Hogwarts late in her first year of school and hadn’t made many friends yet. She had had to stay for the summer to make up some classes that were not taught at Beauxbatons Academy in the first year. Beauxbatons did not teach flying or Astronomy to first years, instead keeping the schedule for the first year students lighter and having all students take a class in manners and ethics of the wizarding world. After going to an all girls school she was still shy around the two boys, but was getting more comfortable. She also loved Herbology, and spent even more time in the greenhouses with Neville than Harry. 

Harry liked seeing Neville branch out and get to know more people. They both seemed to be making an effort to come out of their shells, but seemed to be sticking together for moral support when surrounded by so many unknown people at the party. 

Neville quickly handed Harry a potted plant with the black pot wrapped in a silver and green bow. “I thought you could use a reminder of your friends on your trip,” Neville explained. The small tree-like plant had dark green oval leaves and white sweet smelling blooms that had pale yellow centers. It reminded him of a miniature version of his Aunt’s favorit gardenia tree, except that the petals sparkled like they were ingrained with silver glitter. 

“What is it?” Harry asked. 

“It's a fairy elm. Fairies like to drink their nectar, but the leaves also have healing properties. If you use it’s leaves to make a pulp, it can be applied to wounds to speed healing. Or you can use the dried leaves for tea that will help relax muscles and relieve pain.”

“Thank you,” said Harry, meaning it. 

Willow then handed him a small bag that when opened revealed a blue/green glass orb with a stem. At his baffled expression she explained, “It’s an Aqua Globe. You fill it with water and put the stem in the dirt of the pot. It will keep the tree watered for two weeks. I know how you can forget.” 

Harry blushed, remembering the sad looking succulent plant in his room. She had given him to ‘help brighten his room in the dungeon.’ He hugged them both before he headed over to the larger group of Slytherins in the corner. 

Gabriel Rowle, Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, and Daphne Greengrass were what Ankaa liked to call ‘Harry’s outer circle.’ Harry had grown to like and respect the other Slytherins and Gabriel was starting to feel more like an older brother to him. He just hadn’t reached the same level of trust with them as he had with Ankaa and Draco yet. Harry had seen his Aunt and Uncle lie flawlessly to the world only to turn on him as soon as they were behind closed walls. He knew full well that people weren’t always what they seemed on the surface, and he had a lot of trouble opening up to others. These four, though had always been patient with Harry and gone out of their way to be kind to him his first year. 

They greeted him into their circle with broad smiles. Daphne flipped her flowing cornsilk hair over her shoulder as she handed Harry a small green bag. “Happy Birthday Harry!” she said. 

Harry had to look away from her kind sapphire eyes and gentle smile. Daphne was one of Ankaa’s childhood friends and had been one of the first to welcome Harry into the Slytherin family. The beautiful girl had always been kind to Harry, but she was very quiet and shy. Despite or maybe because of her beauty she didn’t seem to trust easily and because of that she didn’t have many friends. Harry felt a little awed that she would come to Hogwarts just to wish him a happy birthday. 

Harry opened the present to find a pair of thick leather gloves. “Thank you!”

She giggled at him, “You don’t know what they are do you?”

Harry looked at her puzzled, “Um… gloves?” 

“Nice Qidditch gloves!” exclaimed Draco, as he and his sister joined the group. 

Daphne beamed. “It has a mild sticking charm on the palms to help you grip your broom and catch quaffles.” 

Harry grinned, “Brilliant!”

Next, Blaise Zabini handed him a large box as long as his forearm and half as wide wrapped in silver paper that had green snakes printed on it. Harry had to do a double take as he saw their tongues flick in and out of their mouths one at a time. Blaise laughed at his expression. “They won't bite,” he promised. 

Harry carefully removed the paper and folded it before opening the shoe box to see two knee high leather boots. These Harry recognised as Quidditch boots. They were made to be tall to keep mud out during games held in the rain. “Thank you,” Harry said as he ran his hands over the buttery soft leather straps. 

“My mum charmed the souls to emit a _Spongify_ spell to make the ground soft and springy when they touch the ground. This can help you jump higher for take off, soften you landing, and help prevent injuries during an accident,” Blase explained. 

Curious, Harry sat one boot on the ground and felt as the stone floor dipped below his nearest foot, like he had one foot on a trampoline. With the boot still on the floor, he tested the ground with his hand to find that the affected area of the floor only spanned about one foot out in every direction from the boot. When he lifted the boot the ground under his foot immediately solidified. 

Harry played with the boot by trying it on multiple surfaces while the others laughed, until finally Theodore Nott tapped him on the shoulder. His voice wavered as he tried to contain his giggles, “Come on, Harry. Are you going to keep me waiting all day?” 

Harry reluctantly put the boots back in the box and took the black bag from Theodore. Harry glanced at Gabriel. He had a feeling the older Prefect had shared intel about his quickly growing love of the sport over the summer. His suspicions were confirmed when he pulled a leather Quidditch helmet and armored pads for his arms, knees, and torso. As he looked closer at the helmet, he saw some little symbols embossed in the leather at the temple. 

Theodore saw Harry’s interest and explained, “The runes on the helmets are protective. If you're ever hit with a bludger, it will repel it before it makes contact.” 

“Thank you!” said Harry. He had been worried about the idea of being knocked off his broom during a game and he was truly touched by his friends' collective concern for his well being. 

Smiling he turned to the older student who had spent so many long hours teaching him how to play. Gabriel Rowle grinned as he handed Harry a small black leather briefcase. When he opened the case he found an assortment of tools. It contains a large jar of Fleetwood's High-Finish Handle Polish, a large jar of Fleetwood’s Protective Tail-Twig Wax, a pair of silver Tail-Twig Clippers, a brass clip-on compass, and a Handbook of Do-It-Yourself Broomcare. 

Harry looked up and tried to hide his confusion. Why wouldn't he just let the school house elves tend the school brooms like normal? He obviously didn’t hide his thoughts very well, because Gabriel laughed and nodded towards Ankaa and Draco who were holding a long thin box. 

Harry’s heart leapt as he immediately imagined what it could be. He reverently unwrapped the Nimbus 2001 from the green tissue, staring at it in awe. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slytherins can't help but conspire to make Harry happy! 😏


	3. Quidditch

Lucius:

Lucius watched the exuberant crowd of children wondering how Severus did this everyday of the school year. As he watched The-Boy-Who-Lived laughing surrounded by friends, it was hard to remember the scraggly lost child he had met on the train platform a year ago. He had been truly shocked to see any child so thin, emphasized by the tattered baggy clothes he wore. The faint yellow shadow of a bruise on his cheek bone. 

When the boy had said his name was  _ Harry Potter _ , well he still couldn’t fathom how this had been allowed to happen. The irony was not lost on him that it had been  _ his _ children that had befriended the son of his formally most bitter enemies. And then to have him and his wife need to advocate for him against Dumbledore, the leader of the light! 

Now watching the tightly knit trio, he couldn’t imagine it any other way. The still too small dark haired boy was surrounded by students from every Hogwarts house, something that had seemed impossible to the Slytherins of his time at Hogwarts. He wondered if he, and so many other Slytherins of his day, would have made the same choices if they hadn’t already been viewed with suspicion and hate. 

Lucius turned to his closest friend to see the softest expression he had ever seen on his dower face. “You seem happy,” he commented. 

Onix black eyes turned to him with one arched brow. “Foolish bunch of dunderheads, the lot of them,” he scoffed. 

Lucius snorted. “You're not fooling me with that. You're exuding smug happiness like a proud papa,” he teased. 

He spotted a slight flush on Severus’s cheeks as he turned his nose up and away. “Balderdash,” he muttered. 

Lucius tried to keep from laughing as they were interrupted by a messy head of black hair. Green eyes sparkled with excitement as they looked at the dower potions master. “Severus look!” Harry exclaimed as he held out the broom Ankaa and Draco had bought for him with their summer allowance. “Can we all go outside and play?”

Severus looked down his nose at the small boy. “Not until you have properly greeted all of your guests,” he scolded. 

Harry nodded and obediently turned to Lucius and his wife, Narcissa. “Thank you, Lord and Lady Malfoy. I appreciate your attendance for my birthday and your gracious allowance of my visits with your son and daughter,” he said formally. 

Narcissa smiled at the polite boy. “Your very welcome, Mr. Potter. Thank you for being so kind to my children,” she said. Narcissa had always had a soft spot for polite kids. 

“Oh, let the boy have some fun with the broom,” he chided Severus. 

“Not until he opens his other gifts and we have cake,” Snape growled stubbornly. 

Lucius rolled his eyes as he watched Harry run off to open his last two gifts from the Weasleys and Ms. Granger. Then they all sat around the table to have cake and iced cream. Conversation around the table circled around who would be on what team and what positions they would play once they finished up here. To his surprise, the Slytherins didn’t opt to be all on the same team. 

In the end, Mr. Rowle’s team included Ms.Greengrass, Mr. Nott, Mr. Zambini, Ms. Granger, and Ms. Song. Mr. Potter’s team included Ankaa, Draco, Mr. Longbottom, and the Weasley twins. Narcissa started to throw a fit about Ankaa playing Quidditch, but he calmed her down by pointing out that her gentle friend Daphne Greengrass was playing the other Seeker. She agreed that Daphne would never try to hurt Ankaa just to catch the golden ball.

As they all took their positions, neither Ms. Granger and Mr. Longbottom looked comfortable as they hovered in front of their perspective goal hoops as the Keepers. He kind of doubted either would do well at protecting the hoops, but at least they wouldn’t have to fly around as much. Harry and Draco paired up against Willow and Gabriel as the Chasers. Then, the Weasleys took their usual position as beaters against Mr. Nott and Mr. Zambini. 

Severus was a good sport, and started the match by tossing the ball in the air. Draco snatched it out of the air and immediately passed it to Harry behind his back. He facked carrying the ball by curling an arm to his chest as he sped off. The others fell for it and Harry was able to score an easy point. 

The Weasleys were unexpectedly vicious, but Gabriel’s team was still slowly gaining further ahead with every second. If he recalled, Mr. Rowle was actually the reserve captain for the Slytherin team and his experience and leadership was giving them a much better advantage. A flicker of light caught his eye and he saw Ankaa’s eyes lock on the snitch. He watched her freeze and track the gold ball with her eyes, but she did not give chase. 

Lucius glowed with pride. She had done the math and figured out that if she caught it now the other team would win by 10 points. She had even changed her body language to keep Daphne from noticing her discovery. His attention was diverted when his son, Draco, made a goal. If they could just make one more, Ankaa would be open to catch the snitch and win the match. 

The quaffle sored through the air again, and Harry quickly snatched it away from Gabriel. Harry was fast as lightning as he dipped and dogged across the field,having to backtrack twice to avoid bludgers and enemy chasers. Finally he faked a throw to Draco and managed to slip past Gabriel and Willow to shoot towards the goal posts at full speed. Hermione fruitive tried to block as Harry corkscrewed past her to slam the ball through the hoop. Immediately Ankaa dove past Daphne to grab the snitch that had moved to hover behind her and the game came to a dramatic end. 

All the kids landed, looking exhausted, but they all hurried over to cheer for Harry and Ankaa on their amazing win. It was starting to get dark as the kids finally calmed down and came into the school to roast marshmallows in the Slytherin common room. 

Eventually the students had to go home one by one, until only the Malfoys remained. Ankaa and Draco had fallen asleep on the couch on either side of Harry. The dark haired boy’s glasses had fallen ascue and his hair was a mess as he leaned on Draco’s shoulder fast asleep. None of the adults wanted to wake them, but they did need to get home before it got much later. Narcissa gently roused the group and packed up the kids to go,but before they left she handed Harry a tin of homemade biscuits and fudge, wishing him a happy birthday. 

After his family had flooed home, Lucius stayed a bit longer to chat with Severus. “So you're leaving with him tomorrow?” he asked sadly. 

“Yes,” said Severus somberly.”I wish he didn’t need to see those muggles ever again, but Albus was adamant that we needed to keep the sacrifice spell intact. He is doing research to see if there is another way around it, though. He was able to determine that only one week a year would be enough to maintain the spell, but even he is having a hard time with this.” 

“Has he found any other options yet?”

“There is one idea that had promise,” Severus speculated. “If we could find other relatives with enough of his mother’s blood relation,it could work.” 

“Well if that’s all, the Potters have many other lines in the pureblood wizarding community.”

“Yes, but they need to be relatives of Lily, not Potter,” sighed Severus. “Lily’s father was an only child and has no other living relatives besides Petunia, and her mother was adopted. We are still doing research, but it is at a dead end with the horrible organization of the muggle adoption network...” 

Lucious sighed in frustration, “That is unfortunate, but I’m glad he will have you with him.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter may take a bit. I haven't planned it out yet...


	4. Privet Drive

Harry:

Harry stepped out of his make up exams with a sense of accomplishment. He had been surprised how much easier the tests were this time around, but that was probably because of Snape’s tutoring. He was confident that he would pass them all this time. He ran over the questions again as he walked through the empty halls of Hogwarts, but as he neared the Slytherin dungeons his thoughts started to darken, just as the lights dimmed on his way down. 

He wished there was a spell that would let him skip this week and go right to his first day of school. He trusted that Professor Snape would keep him safe, but his uncle had always had an explanation for every scrape or bruise and Snape couldn’t be with him every moment of the day. 

His hands shook as he turned the handle to his room. Everything was where he had left it. The Nimbus 2001 on the wall mounted broom stand the Weasleys had given him, The stack of Quidditch strategy books from Hermione next to the broom servicing kit on the table, and the packed rucksack at the foot of his bed. He picked up his bag, and with a last minute thought grabbed the tin of sweets from Mrs. Malfoy and stuffed it in the bag. 

He couldn’t help stashing food for the trip. After years of not having enough to eat, he had learned to have a couple of small stashes of food in his cupboard at all times. He never knew when something strange would happen that he would be blamed for and be locked away. It was a hard habit to break, and he even now had stashes around his dorm room, even though he knew it was irrational. 

Fully packed, he headed down the stairs to wait for Professor Snape. Snape was with the proctor waiting for the results so he could tell Harry what his grades were before they left. He sat on the plush emerald green couch and stared blankly into the fire, trying to keep from thinking. It was only for a week. He had lived with the Dursleys for eleven years before he came to Hogwarts, he could survive one more week. 

It felt like a long time before the potions master came through the porthole to the Slytherin common room. By that time Harry was far too nervous to worry about what his grades were on his tests. But, the tall man smiled faintly as he looked down at him and handed him a piece of parchment. “You passed!” he said as he ruffled Harry’s hair, “Congratulations.” 

Harry smiled, then grimaced as he tried to straighten his hair. As he watched, Snape began conjuring a table and chairs. Then he floo called the kitchen elves to bring them lunch. Harry watched curiously as the house elves set the table. He had never seen them at Hogwarts before and he was so entranced by their tiny forms and bouncing ears that he almost missed what they placed on the table. 

The table was set with his favorite foods! Chicken corn chowder, jelly thumbprint biscuits, strawberry poppy salad, and broiled fish. Harry quickly loaded up a bowl of soup, as Severus rolled his dark eyes. He didn’t care if it was the middle of summer, soup was still delicious! 

Harry and Severus ate lunch quietly until Harry felt he was fit to burst. Then he made sure to slip some of the thumbprint biscuits into his bag when he thought Snape wasn’t looking. The tall man pinched the bridge of his nose, but otherwise didn’t comment. They both knew Harry’s habit of hoarding food was getting worse, but the Professor seemed to be letting it slide for now. 

The meal couldn’t last forever though, and soon Harry and Snape had to gather their things and floo to Little Whinging. They stepped out into the basement of the local bank, which happened to be owned by Gringots. The basement was small but was full of witches and wizards doing business. Snape gently guided him towards the staircase that led to the muggle main floor. 

The bank wasn’t far from Private Drive, but it felt like miles as they walked through the busy streets. When they stood at Number 4 Privet Drive Harry clung to the potions master’s side like a bur. Snape put a hand on his shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze before ringing the doorbell. Aunt Petunia answered the door just after the second ring. She cracked the door open to pear suspiciously out at them. She paled at the sight of a tall, severe looking man dressed in all black. 

While Snape had dressed in muggle attire to avoid attracting attention, he was still dressed head to toe in black. He wore dark, almost black jeans, a black dress shirt, and a long black coat that flowed in a way reminiscent of his usual robes. Despite his attempts to blend in, he stood out like a sore thumb. Harry would have laughed at all the weird looks they had got on the way here if he wasn’t so nevious. 

Aunt Petunia was giving them an odd look as well as they entered the house. She ducked away from Snape’s penetrating dark eyes to look at Harry. “Come on,” she said with a meaningful look, “Let’s put your things in your room.” 

Harry followed her in confusion up the stairs and into Dudley’s second bedroom. When she opened the door he found that Dudley’s game groom had been turned into a sparse bedroom with just a twin bed with Dudley’s old hand-me-down blankets, a beat up old wardrobe, and an end table with a book under one of the back feet to keep it upright. Still it was a far cry from the cupboard under the stairs. 

Not that they could really have him sleep there with Severus here. He wondered if Dudley’s room was filled to bursting now… Maybe they had renovated the attic to fit all his gaming systems. While the sparse room was an improvement, Harry couldn’t help but feel ashamed to have his Head of House seeing how his family treated him. He doubted it would get any better though. His relatives couldn’t keep up the charade forever. 

Harry grimaced as he set his bag on the bed and turned to give his aunt a fake smile. “Do you need any help around the house while I’m here,” he asked. It would be better if it looked like he normally just volunteered to help with the chores around the house. 

She glanced at Snape. “That’s ok. You can take some time to get settled first, but since you asked I do need some help in the garden.” She paused awkwardly for a bit before continuing, “I have to pick Dudley up from soccer practice this afternoon, so Vernon will be home before me…”

Harry was stunned. He could only imagine the spectacle when Vernon came home to meet Snape. He would blow a fews! His aunt obviously looked concerned about the prospect. She had alway been good at distracting Vernon, when he was going too far. The fact that she bothered to warn him at all, meant he was probably in an even more fowl mood than usual. Harry tried to hide his fear by taking a deep shivering breath as she left. 

Harry busied himself by unpacking his bag, while Snape looked around the room. When he was done he offered the professor a piece of Mrs. Malfoy’s butterscotch fudge. He shook his head, before smiling. “Do you want to play a round of chess while we wait?” he suggested. 

Harry smiled, but glanced around the room. There wasn’t anything to put a chess board on. He reached for the end table, but it nearly fell over, because he forgot to move the book with it. Severus, pulled out his wand, “Allow me... “ He quickly transfigured the end table into a card table. 

Harry’s heart stopped, waiting for Vernon to materialize or the Ministry of Magic to pass judgment. Seeing his face, Snape’s eyes filled with concern. “It’s fine Harry. I’m an adult wizard. I have my license to practice magic.” He pulled the wizarding chess set out of his bag and set it on the table. Then conjured a chair for himself, while Harry opted to sit on the edge of the bed. Harry felt like he was sitting on pins and needles, not a lumpy mattress as he began the game. But after a while the challenge of trying to hold his ground against the cleaver potions master proved to need his full atention. Severus wasn’t going easy on him and the game was taking all of his concentration before he knew it. That’s why Harry jumped so badly and knocked over the board when the doorbell rang. 

Severus stood calmly and left the room with Harry running after him. Harry ran down the stairs two at a time to get to the door first, hoping to keep him out of the confrontation. He opened the door and immediately shrank back. Vernon’s face was purple, the vein at his temple was throbbing in anger. Harry flinched back, but he bumped into something. He looked back to see Snape towering over him, his fathomless dark eyes glaring down his nose at his uncle. Harry thought he had seen Snape’s coolest expression when he had first met him, but his expression now was arctic! 

Vernon paled and seemed to get smaller under Severus Snape’s glare. He turned a subdued glare on Harry and commanded, “Go fetch me my scotch boy, it’s been a long day.” 

Harry rushed to do as he was bid, while the two men moved to the sitting room. When he came in with the glass of amber liquid, he found the two men sitting as far from each other as possible in the small space. He sat the drink next to his uncle and went to stand by his teacher, knowing he was not permitted on the furniture. Severus gestured to the sitting chair next to him and Harry looked to his uncle for permission. He gave a nearly imperceptible nod and Harry sat down cautiously. 

They all sat in awkward silence for a long moment before Snape began, “I thought there was a muggle law against a minor serving alcohol?”

Vernon glowered. “Not in your own home,” he growled. 

Snape arched an eyebrow, “My mistake…” He seemed to ponder for a moment before going on. “That makes it even more similar to our law against underaged magic.” He conjured a steaming cup of tea for himself and sipped it lightly. 

Harry froze and watched Vernon’s face blanch. “I’ll not have that…” he began, but stopped under Snape’s icy expression. 

Snape took another long sip before nonchalantly saying, “Under aged wiches and wizards are not permitted to use magic outside of school.” 

Vernon perked up at that and looked suspiciously at Harry, like he had intentionally been hiding that fact. Which he had…

“However,” Snape drawled, “They can use it within the walls of their own home with supervision. Meaning, with the use of an ‘of age’ wizard’s wand, normally a parents. This ensures that nothing goes pear shaped.” He deftly pulled a wand from his coat. 

Vernon got even paler. Something Harry had not thought possible. 

Snape fidgeted with the wand in his hands as he said, “I am here to ensure Harry’s safety due to certain  _ circumstances _ … For his safety, I will be giving him one of my spare wands.” 

Harry took it like he thought it was a snake that might bite him. As soon as it touched his hand though, it began to shrink. Harry looked at it in alarm, but the wand had already shrunk to the size of a small pendant and with a flash of light a silvery chain wove around it just big enough for Harry to slip it over his head. “Thank you, sir,” he whispered, trying not to look at his uncle. 

Severus’s eyes softened. “You can use this anytime you feel threatened, Harry. Your safety is my top priority.” He gave Vernon a meaningful look. 

Vernon sputtered, his face turning beat red. Finally, he stood abruptly and stormed off to his office. Harry flinched as he heard the door slam. 

Severus finished sipping his tea and banished his cup. “How about we go out to eat tonight, Harry. It’ll be my treat.” 


	5. Swimming

Snape: 

Snape dozed in the recliner that he had transfigured out of the wabby wardrobe in ‘Harry’s room.’ He had a hard time sleeping in this house’s ora of malice. The oily sense of hate and pain chafed against his senses the moment he crossed the threshold, keeping him on edge. The muggle’s complete lack of tact for hiding their true feelings of Harry, just added to his aggravation. It made it very hard to sleep, but it wasn’t like he hadn’t spent long hours keeping watch for danger before. 

The most he had managed was a few hours of cat napping after he was sure all the Dursleys were asleep. Now he sat sipping his favorite bergamot and sweet orange tea as the sun began to rise outside the window. Harry lay balled up under his covers like a turtle hiding in its shell. Only his mess of black hair sticking out, pointing in all directions. The longer he watched over Harry, the more he saw of Lily in him and less of James. His green eyes were so expressive, hiding nothing. He was a terrible liar and picked at his hands when he was anxious. Most of all, he was exceedingly kind, just as his mother had been. She had been the only one who could make a surly boy like him smile. Lily had been the one to get him interested in potions, both of them spending long hours over a caldron in Sughorn’s ‘Slug Club.’ Those were some of the happiest memories of his life…

If he was honest with himself, Harry had very little in common with his father other than his looks. Except for the excessive risk taking of running off to confront the Dark Lord at the end of last year, which he believed was mostly his niece Ankaa’s doing anyway. He had not seen much of James’s tendencies in Harry. He was glad that he had been forced to get to know the boy. He shuddered to think of how his appearance, so like his father, might have clouded his judgment and made him overlook the boy, Harry really was. 

He was interrupted from his brooding as Harry began to stir. A pair of sleepy green eyes stared blearily out of the covers at him. “Grd mern’n,” he mumbled. His eyes scanned the room in confusion. “Whr re we,” he yawned. 

Severus hid his smirk with his tea cup. Harry clearly wasn’t all the way awake yet. “We are at your Aunt and Uncle’s house,” he answered. 

Harry immediately sat up in alarm, looking around the room again. Seeing his distress Severus intervened, “It’s alright Harry. They're all still asleep.” He watched as Harry’s breathing slowly returned to normal. Attempting to distract him, Snape offered, “Would you like breakfast?” 

Harry perked up and nodded. They both headed down the stairs as quietly as possible. They stepped into the kitchen and Severus gathered the skillet and utensils, but Harry flinched when he reached for the fridge. Severus’s face darkened, but he  _ Accioed _ the supplies he needed from his home. As he set about making eggs, toast, and bacon, he watched Harry fidget as if he didn’t know what to do with himself while others worked. After a bit, he spoke up, “I’ll just go work in the garden for a bit. I promised my Aunt I would help out.” 

Severus let him go. It was good that Harry kept his promises, but it chafed him to watch him act like a servant in his own home. He watched out the kitchen window as Harry weeded, fertilized, and pruned the garden. He had just finished watering when Severus called him in for breakfast. Harry made sure all the tools were back in their place before he came into the house. He removed his shoes at the door and washed up before cautiously sitting at the table. The clock on the wall barley read past 6:15 in the morning. It would still be quite some time before the Dursleys woke. 

Once he was settled, Severus reached for a stack of pancakes with a candle on top. As he set them in front of Harry he whispered, “Happy Birthday Harry.” 

Harry beamed up at him and began to tuck in to his meal. They ate in relative silence and when they were finished Harry helped him wash the dishes and put them away. When they were done, he poured himself a cup of tea and offered Harry another. Harry took the cup, but grimaced after the first sip. “Would you rather something else?” he asked. 

“No, this is fine!” Harry muttered, but after seeing Severus’s arched brow continued a little apologetically, “I just prefer coffee…”

“You’ll stunt your growth,” Severus muttered as he transfigured the cup. 

Severus was sipping from his second cup of tea that morning, while Harry happily drank down a steaming mug of black coffee, when Petunia Dursley came down the stairs. Harry jumped and Severus had to steady his cup before he was covered in scalding liquid. Petunia stared at them for a long moment, but seemed to decide to ignore them for the moment as she began making breakfast for her family. 

Harry picked at his fingers as he watched his aunt work. Severus watched her too, and he noticed that she seemed to be favoring her left leg as if she had had a recent injury. He frowned in thought, but continued with his question as if he hadn’t noticed. “I overheard that you plan to take your son to swimming lessons this week… Why don’t I take the boys there for you?”

He waited patiently as she froze, then gathered herself to answer, “It’s just Dudley who is signed up for lessons…”

“Yes, I know… you only signed up your son for lessons, but I have seen Harry try to swim.” Harry blushed scarlet at the mention of his floundering attempts to learn from Ankaa and Draco earlier that summer. “It would be in the interest of his safety that he learns how to properly swim. You never know when you’ll need that skill...” 

Petunia glanced toward the ceiling, “I suppose that will be alright, just wait till Vernon goes off to work… He’s been in a fowl mood as of late.” 

***

Harry splashed in the shallows with a group of younger children, while Dudley flopped in the deep end with the kids his own age, dunking the others when the teacher wasn’t looking. Severus sat reading a book over by Harry in the shade of a neon yellow umbrella. It clashed oddly with his all black attire. At first Harry had seemed discouraged by being surrounded by eight year olds, but now they were hanging off him as he laughed. They all seemed to have become attached to the older boy rather quickly and Harry was taking their boisterous antics rather well. 

His teacher Miss Honey was observant for such a young girl. She couldn’t be more than twenty, with long light brown hair, kind gold brown eyes, and a sweet smile. She wore the recognisable sun kissed tan and strikingly red suit that was iconic to any lifeguard and she watched the children with a practiced keen eye. Severus was further impressed by observation skills and courage as she left the group to practice blowing bubbles and breathing to the side in the shallow, so she could go confront the intimidating man. Her eyes flashed with anger as she threatened to call child services on him, pointing out Harry’s too small, thin frame and the white scars she had noticed on his back. 

Severus had had to pull out a pad of psychic paper that changed to show his credentials as a social worker. He explained that he worked for Harry’s school and that they had sent him to look into suspected abuse at home. Something that was mostly true. 

She had immediately apologized, but he couldn’t blame her for jumping to conclusions. He didn’t exactly look like a doting parent. “Wring their necks for me won't you?” she spat, an angry glare darkening her normally happy face. Her eyes softened as she turned and gazed at Harry entertaining the younger kids by letting them hold onto his arms as he spun them through the water. “I can’t imagine anyone wanting to hurt that boy…” 

“I will if I get the chance,” he promised. 


	6. Dobby

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just love cracking open my Norse Mythology book, don’t you?

Ankaa: 

Ankaa stood in a field of flowers with no recollection on how she had come to be there. At the base of the hill she stood on, was a tall burly man surrounded by a crowd of people throwing all manner of axes, javelins, and swords at the man. As she watched they bounced off him like he was made of rubber, never even leaving a single mark. A boy whose name she had forgotten stepped out of the trees and walked unsteadily to her side. He held a pure white cain in his left hand as he tapped the ground in front of him. She had made it for him with magic, she remembered. Out of the white berries of a mistletoe plant. He placed a hand on her shoulder as he reached her side and looked down at her with eyes milky with blindness. “Ah my dear friend, what are you watching?” 

His name finally came to her, Hodur. How could she have forgotten? They were childhood friends! She smiled up at him and told him about the idiotic sight below them. They laughed together, then Hodur held out his staff, “Here change this! I want to join in the fun!” 

Unthinkingly she obliged him and watched him fling it towards the laughing impervious man. But it did not bounce off. 

It sank deep in the man’s chest, blooming like the white stem of a red flower…

***

The scene changed. She stood in a gilded hall, her ears aching from the cacophony of angry voices. Her hands were not in cuffs, but clapped in irons that burned at her magic. Their surface was scratched with runes that wound in intricate knots around the heavy metal. A woman was standing in the center of the room screaming at her like a howler. “You loathsom, arrogant, wretched, _trickster_ ! How dare you skeem to kill my son! I spent _years_ collecting promises from every living thing, so that they would not harm my Baldur and yet _you_ find the only thing I had forgotten! Abomination! You used poor Hodur’s blindness to trick him into murder! YOU'RE THE MURDERER!!! YOU DISGUSTING, DETESTABLE, REPUGNANT, EVIL MONSTER…”

She continued to spue words of hate on her over and over until they felt like waves of acid washing over her skin. She stood in silence, knowing nothing she could say would change her mind. 

***

Again the scene shifted. She was chained to three boulders by leathery strips that made her stomach roll at the smell. The cave she kneeled in was dark and murky and she could hear scales scraping the stone floor. She glanced to the side to see the coils of a giant snake thrashing against the stone wall. Chains clinked overhead and Ankaa looked up to see the serpent’s head anchored to the stone ceiling with steel chains. Its jaw was locked open with a metal bit to reveal silvery white fangs. As she watched a single drop of pearly iridescent venom fell from its mouth to land on her face. 

Her screams rang throughout the cave, but no one was there to listen…

~~~

Ankaa woke from her nightmare just long enough for a real life one to begin. There was nothing she could do to calm herself before the world around her erupted into screaming black wind. 

***

Snape: 

Severus startled awake as two globe-like green eyes stared down at him. He just managed to recognise the Malfoy house elf before he let loose a reflexive curse. The elf’s large bat-like ears flapped as he trembled at the end of his wand. Severus tried to decipher his never ending stream of gibberish to no avail. “Calm down, Dobby!” he commanded. 

He watched the house elf freeze as the command washed over him. Severus looked at the clock on the nightstand and pinched the bridge of his nose. He wasn’t even going to acknowledge that hour as a time of day… He took a deep calming breath, “Dobby, what's the matter?” 

“Master Snape!” he begged in a voice so shrill it was bound to wake Harry. “You have to come quickly…” The elf seemed to realize he had issued a command to a wizard in his haset to explain. He hurried over to the bed and started banging his head against the bedpost. “Bad Dobby, Bad Dobby!”

Harry sat up in alarm, “What, what!” He nearly fell out of bed as the little elf jumped up on his pillow and began apologising uncontrollably. 

Severus wished he could curse the wizard that had crossbred goblins and brownies to create the ‘perfect household helper.’ It seemed each new generation was even more eccentrically obsessed with manners than the last. Not that wizards could turn them away now… House elves need the gratitude of others to survive. No one would free an elf unless they wished for its death and only a suicidal elf would wish to be free. Without a family to work for they would die within a year of magical starvation. You think the wizarding world would have realized the dangers of cross breeding when they crossed unicorns with normal horses and ended up with homicidal Kelpies. 

He took deep calming breaths as he tried again, “Dobby, what is wrong?” 

Dobby’s ears drooped. “It’s terrible, sir,” his large eyes filled with tears. “Ankaa… I-it’s Dobby’s job to protect her, but... she…. She’s having one of her episodes! Master Malfoy was injured trying to calm her! Dobby didn’t know what to do… but the young lord Malfoy sent me to get.. _to_ _beg for your help_!” 

Severus was in motion before Dobby even finished speaking with Harry right behind him. They ran down the stairs to the sitting room and over to the fireplace. Severus pulled the pouch of floo powder from his robes and threw it into the flames. He crowded into the fireplace with Harry. Malfoy manor had far too many protective wards for him to trust that Harry could get through on his own, but it made for close quarters. 

They stumbled out of the floo and Harry tripped on the carpet to land face first on the hard floor. Severus helped him to his feet, but he didn’t stay standing long. Draco came barreling out of the hallway and tackled him with a cry, “Harry! I’m so glad you came!” Draco jumped to his feet, dragging Harry with him as he ran down the hall. “This way, uncle!” he tossed over his shoulder as he ran. 

They came to a door where Lucius and Narcissa stood. They had shoved a thick wooden beam through the handles of the double doors, but the doors shook and rattled with the screaming wind within. Lucius’s arm was in a sling and what skin was showing through the bandages was covered in blue veins indicative of an Obscurial attack. He was lucky to be alive. 

Severus instructed Harry to wait here with Draco while he tried to help Ankaa. Knowing this was a bad idea, Severus removed the beam and stepped inside. The room was a disaster. Not a single scrap of furniture was left that was bigger than a toothpick. In the center of the room floated the black orb of negative emotions that was his god daughter. The Obscurus seemed to have grown since the last time he had been unfortunate enough to come face to face with it. 

It roared with the high keening winds it wielded and dove for him. He dodged to the left and rolled to his feet. The elf that had snuck in behind him did not. Dobby starred as the Obscurial barreled towards him. The Obscurial stopped meer inches from the house elf. It floated there like it was trying to decide if the creature was human or animal. Evidently deciding it wasn’t a threat, it turned to come at Severus again. He flung as many different non-lethal spells as he could think of at his god daughter as he dipped and dodged in the small space. None of his calming or stunning spells had any effect on her. Dobby kept trying to distract his mistress by jumping between them, but the Obscurial just slipped around his every attempt to dissuade her until the elf lay painting on the floor. Eventually even Severus's stamina began to wane and he made one last desperate attempt to calm her. 

He shifted just as the Obscurial pinned him against the window. The Obscurial froze in front of the large black eyed raven. Its tendrils of black smoke stroking down its midnight black wings that reflected the moonlight in rainbow colored pools on the window sill. The agitated, swirling form of the Obscurus began to calm before finally sinking into the floor to reveal the still, small form of Ankaa Malfoy. The raven starred down from its perch at the long blond hair and porcelain features of the girl. She was still curled up in her green silk pajamas and her cheeks were streaked with tears. 

Severus shifted back from his animagus form and gently lifted his god daughter in his arms. He carried her out of the shambles of her bedroom and into the large sitting room he and Harry had flooed into. The elder Malfoys, Draco, and Harry were all gathered together in a group of chairs. Lucius’s arm was still strapped to his side and a pained look was leaking through his practiced, cool expression. 

He laid her gently on the emerald green loveseat and before he could get a word out in explanation, a tawny gold blur came streaking out of the hall to stand beside Ankaa. Severus couldn’t believe his eyes. Ankaa’s familiar had gotten huge! The once, tiny fragile looking Serval kitten was now the size of a large hound. Its long legs were twig thin and its tawny pelt was covered in black spots. Nimue’s overly large black ears swiveled towards Ankaa in concern, making the large white spot behind each ear stand out even more. Nimue sniffed Ankaa’s face before giving her cheek a lick, her rough pink tongue leaving a red welt that quickly faded. 

While he had been distracted Lucius had come over to join him around the couch. “Did you cross Ankaa’s familiar with a leopard?” he asked with one arched brow. 

Lucius laughed and then winced, “No… but I have never seen a Serval of her like.” 

Seemingly attracted by his pain, the waist high serval cat began sniffing his arm. Nimue didn’t even have to stretch to reach the tall blonds wrist as she tore at his bandages. Lucius gave a very un-manly yelp as the large cat pinned him to the side of the couch with a long-legged paw and began licking his wounded arm. They all stared in amazement as the red welts replaced the grey skin and blue veins from the Obscurial attack and then faded to pristine, healthy skin. But that was nothing compared to what happened next. 

Nimue worked up his arm with her ministrations until her sandpaper like tongue reached the dark mark. As Nimue’s pink tongue scraped against the shameful tattoo it began to writhe and smoke. The snake hissed an eerily human scream as it dissolved into noxus fumes. Nimue gave the smoke a dismissive hiss as the smog dissipated and then flicked her tail in annoyance before going to curl up at Ankaa’s feet on the couch. 

Lucius stared back at Severus in complete shock as Snape did the same. They were motionless for a long time before Severus had a disterbing revelation. Snape struggled to maintain his balance as he walked over to the extremely large serval cat. From what he had read, African Serval Cats only got to about 3ft tall and weighed 26lbs. This cat was at least 4 feet tall and looked to weigh around 50 pounds and her paws still looked too large for her to have reached her full size…

Nimue yawned wide, exposing pearly white fangs and stretched her front claws in front of her. Severus froze, “What color are Nimue’s claws?”

Lucius pressed on the pads of one of her paws until her long dark claws unsheathed. He lit the end of his wand with a _Lumos_ and examined them closely. “I thought they were black, but they are really…” Comprehension lit his features in horor. 

“Navy,” Severus finished soberly. 

Lucius cautiously lifted the wand and slid a finger into the corner of the cat’s mouth. She obligingly opened her maw and he shown the light into her mouth. 

“Green spot on the roof of the mouth?” Severus asked grimly. 

Lucius nodded and then slowly backed away. They both walked over to the others on the far side of the room who had been watching them with curiosity. Narcissa seemed to have kept the children relatively distracted with hot cocoa and fresh baked biscuits during their long exchange. 

Lucius cleared his throat, but his voice still squeaked slightly in shock, “Narcissa, dear… turns out our daughter’s familiar isn’t a African Serval Cat……… She’s a Nundu. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I ended up including a lot of the plans I had, in this one chapter. Hopeful it's not too much for one chapter...


	7. The Nundu...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took a lot more research than I thought it would... Sorry for the delay!

Ankaa: 

Ankaa woke with a killer headache and with a weight on her chest. Nimue’s ears perked up as her amber eyes stared back at Ankaa. “Mwrrr?”

Ankaa scratched Nimue behind her ears and her purr vibrated so hard, Ankaa felt like she was in the middle of a magnitude 9 earthquake. She groaned as the vibrations caused her sore muscles to spasm in protest. A rough tongue scrapped the epidermis off of her nose, but the red skin quickly faded. She glanced around the room. How had she ended up on the sitting room couch? 

She sat up quickly, and regretted it. She slung an arm around Nimue’s large shoulders for support. The big cat head bonked her chin affectionately as Ankaa took in her surroundings. Her family was sitting across the room in one of the many small groupings of comfortable chairs in the large sitting room. She was startled to note that her uncle Severus and brother by choice, Harry were seated with them. They were all staring at her like she had grown a second head…

Ankaa clung closer to her familiar as a flash of her father’s face twisted in pain filled her mind. She paled as more memories flooded back to her and she realized what had happened. Her eyes sought her father’s and relief flooded her as she saw him whole and unharmed. Maybe that had been a nightmare too… 

Her mother stood and crossed the room, her eyes filled with concern. “Ankaa, dear… How are you feeling?” Her mother’s eyes seemed to be locked on Nimue and Ankaa hugged the big cat tighter wondering why her mother wouldn’t look at her. 

“What happened?” she asked in a horse whisper. All she remembered was a strange dream that had quickly turned into a nightmare, although she had no idea what it had been about. The large yellow eyes of the chained serpent still made her shiver…

Narcissa paused, as if she didn’t know where to begin. “Ankaa… Your father and I heard you calling out from one of your night terrors… You know how you used to have such terrible dreams as a child...” Her mother was still acting oddly and she stiffened as Ankaa wove her fingers into the tawny fur of her familiar. Nimue gave her an encouraging lick before going to curl up on a nearby arm chair. Narcissa relaxed visibly, but as she sat down next to Ankaa on the couch her eyes grew sad. “You had another panic attack, Ankaa…”

Ankaa’s eyes grew wide and she immediately looked over to see her father sitting in his favorite armchair. He was staring at his arm in shock. What had she done? Her mind flashed back to the look of pain she had remembered on her father’s face, but his arm seemed to be fine. Not like the mangled mess of an arm she had seen in her memory. She doubted that could ever be forgotten. “Is everyone alright?” she asked. 

“Yes, they are all fine now. Severus was able to calm you down, but I’m afraid your room…” Narcissa shook her head, “Well, we have more urgent things we need to discuss. Could you come join us over by your uncle Severus?” 

Ankaa stood on shaky legs feeling like a newborn deer as she crossed the large space. Her mother steadied her with a hand under her elbow and eased her into a reclining chair. Once she managed to relax the bunching muscles in her lower back enough to breath again she looked to her uncle, who seemed to be the one who was the most calm. Although, his shoulders seemed a bit tense as well. “I’m sorry,” she said looking down, “The nightmare… by the time I realized what was about to happen there wasn’t anything I could do to get myself under control.” 

“Not your fault,” said her uncle in a reproachful tone. “If your father hadn't rushed in without checking for danger first, you probably would have calmed down on your own without anything around for the Obscurus to see as a threat. As it was, we learned a few interesting things.” 

Ankaa bristled slightly at his disapproving tone, as he spoke of her father, but she knew it was based in his own concern for his friend. She sighed, “You learned something other than that I have no control while I sleep?”

“Yes,” Severus raised an eyebrow, “Although, I am now even more glad that Salazar Slytherin saw fit to give each student their own room to protect their secret and did not follow the ‘team building’ philosophies of Godric Gryffindor.” 

Ankaa shuddered at the thought of having to share a dorm room with all the other girls of her year for seven years. Godric had been the only founder to believe that students needed to stick together more than have a safe escape from school life. She couldn’t imagine living with so many  _ extroverts! _

Her uncle saw her shudder and smiled, but it sombered as he continued. “We discovered three new things tonight. First, it appears that your Obscurus form does not feel threatened by non-human beings, such as house elves. In fact you seemed to try very hard to keep from killing Dobby.” 

Ankaa’a eyes widened. She had grown up with Dobby as her personally assigned house elf. Not that that was normal practice. Dobby had been born not long before her and her brother. She had been about four years old when he had been climbing for a book to read for her and Draco when the heavy wooden shelf had fallen over on him. Ankaa had tended to him for weeks and managed to save his life when she had alerted her uncle Severus to some blood leaking from his ear. They had caught the hemorrhage quickly, keeping it from causing too much damage. Of course then Dobby had dedicated himself solely to her care from that day onward. 

Ankaa began to panicky look around for her companion, “I didn’t hurt him, did I?”

“No,” Snape soothed, “He is just asleep down stairs. He has a slight case of over exertion, mostly from trying to get between your Obscurus and me.” 

Ankaa sighed. “I didn’t hurt you?” she asked, giving him a once over. 

“No,” he answered, “But that brings us to our second discovery. I would need to test this more to be sure, but it appears that your Obscurus does not register an animagus as a human threat.” 

Ankaa rubbed her arms nervously. She knew of her uncle’s animagus form, but she had always had an aversion to ravens. It creeped her out, how they would seem to watch her from the trees. At least with Severus she could always be sure it was him, because of the almost unnoticeable spattering of white feathers at his throat that reminded her of the shirt collar that sometimes peeked out from his black robes. 

“And the third thing you learned?” Ankaa asked warily. 

Severuss lips formed a thin line and his eyes flickered over her shoulder. “The third thing we discovered is about your familiar.”

Ankaa heard quiet paw steps followed by a deep pur as Nimue came to rest at her side. She reached down and scratched her under the chin. “She’s a Nundu,” Ankaa answered simply. 

Snape’s face went perfectly still. “You knew,” he said in a neutral tone. 

“She is my familiar,” Ankaa confirmed. “I have suspected for a while, she is too intelligent even for a cat. But I wasn’t sure until a few weeks ago. I was reading in the garden when a gnome popped out of the ground and bit my toe. It ducked back into the hole before Nimue could pounce on it and as I watched she growled into the hole as green vapor spiraled from her jaws. I couldn’t see what happened, but the noises they made below ground were horrible.” Ankaa closed her eyes, “No one has seen another gnome for miles since…” 

“And why…. would you not  _ tell _ anyone?” Snape drawled. 

“You know how mother gets…” Ankaa said apologetically. Then her eyes lit with mischief as she said, “Besides think of all the rare potions you could make with shedded fur and her healing saliva.” 

Severus paused in thought. It wasn’t like there was much he could do. A true familiar bond lasted for life. If he tried to separate them, Nimue would just find her again. “I will speak to your mother,” he conceded, “but we will have to get your familiar bond officially registered so that no one is legally able to remove her from your care.” 

“Thank you!” Ankaa cried as she launched herself at the dower man. 

Severus rolled his eyes, but allowed her to accost him. 

***

Ankaa:

The next morning, Severus led her through the twisting halls of the Administrative Registration Department of the Ministry of Magic. Finally they arrived at a slightly crooked door at the end of a long empty hallway that had a dust covered sign that read “Familiar Bond Registry.” The ‘y’ was tilted precariously as if it was about to fall off. The door creaked as her uncle held it open for her and Nimue. The dimly lit room filled with kennels of various sizes made it seem as if they had come at night, when in reality Severus had insisted on coming at the crack of dawn to beat the rush and get to the ministry before there were many witnesses that could identify what Nimue was. 

An older witch with wildly curly brown hair pulled back into a bun, stood in front of a kennel feeding a baby bird with an eyedropper. “I’ll be with you in just a moment!” she called over her shoulder. While the gold and white tufts of fuzzy feathers made it obvious that the bird was still a chick, it stood nearly a foot tall. Once finished, she held her arm out for the fluffy chick to talon walk up her arm that had a thick leather glove that came almost to her shoulder. 

“Hello! I’m Mary Bones and this is Joy,” she said in introduction. The chick gave a happy chirp and rubbed the side of its very sharp beak against Mary’s cheek. “It is very nice to meet you Master Snape. My daughter, Susan, has been studying ravenously this summer to try to get into your Honors Potion class next year,” she gushed as she shook his hand. 

Severus gave her just the barest hint of a smile. “Miss Bones has done rather well for her first year. I look forward to seeing what she has accomplished.” 

Mary beamed. “She takes after her father doesn't she? Edgar was always tucked away in his lab, tinkering away! I have to confess that I’m not much help with Susan’s studies. My youngest, Henry, will start in a few years. At least he shares my passion for Magizoology. He sometimes comes to work with me and helps out with rehabilitating the injured magical creatures found by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.”

“Is your friend there one such creature?” asked Ankaa politely. 

Mary smiled and extended her arm so Ankaa could stroke Joy’s downy wings. “Yes. Joy here is a baby Thunder Bird that was rescued from poachers. Unfortunately, her mother had already been sold. The DRCMC is still working to track her down, but the stress of losing her mother so young and poor care from her captors has caused her to become emaciated. We’ve been working with her for two weeks now and she has come a long way.”

Ankaa smiled as the little bird let out a croon of pleasure as she scratched beneath her beak. Nimue put her paws up on the desk and sniffed the bird in interest. They stared at each other for a long moment. Just when Ankaa was starting to get worried, Joy hopped off of Mary’s arm to perch between Nimue’s ears. Ankaa couldn’t help but laugh as Nimue crossed her eyes with the effort of trying to look at the creature preaning her ears. 

Mary Bones finally seemed to recognise the large cat and her eyes widened in excitement. She knelt before Nimue and exclaimed, “You are a beautiful beast, aren’t you?” She gave her a scratch behind the ear as she looked to Severus, “Is she what I think she is?” 

Severus gave her a nod and she practically bounced like a kid on Christmas. “Never in all my years would I have imagined that I would get to meet a Nundu cub! She’s GORGEOUS!”

Nimue basked in the attention like a cat in her favorite spot of sunshine and extended her paw with a regal attitude. Mary Bones took the offered paw and began examining the navy claws as if they were made of sapphire. She lit her wand with a quick  _ Lumos _ and Nimue obligingly opened her mouth. After a thorough examination, she gently removed Joy from between her ears and placed her on a perch on her desk. She then reached for a couple of books on the large oak shelf behind the desk. “I have read extensively on the history of Nundu. Did you know that wizards and muggles originally held a semi-symbiotic relationship with the Nundu?” 

Nimue placed her chin on the desk and stared up at her with a curious, “Mwrrl?”

Marry Bones fed her a fish biscuit from her drawer and then handed another to Joy. “The Nundu was first discovered in what is now Natunda, Burundi where the Abahutu tribes in the area had created a mutualistic relationship with these sacred beasts. The wizard that discovered them, Rolf Scamander, traveled there after hearing stories from his father’s about his trip to Sudan to help a young girl with a terminal affliction. While he was there he had heard many roomers of great african cats that patrolled the wildlands to the south and the sorcerers that controlled them.”

Mary flipped through a large tomb before flipping it around so she could see the yellowed old illustration of a cat much like Nimue, towering over a collection of straw and mud huts. “Rolf spent 20 years living with the Abahutu people and eventually married the village shawmaness, who finally introduced him to Shira, the village’s guardian spirit and told him the story of how her tribe had earned the trust of the Nundu.” 

She turned the page to an illustration of a young girl standing before large glowing eyes. “It was said that it all began when a young girl named Tyla wandered into the tall grass, away from her village. The grass was so tall and she, being young could not see past the golden strands that blocked out the sun. She wandered for hours, until finally she came to a rocky outcropping that reached high into the sky. Boldly she climbed in the hopes of finding her path home, but when she reached the first plato dusk had fallen like silent paws on the land, dulling the colors and blinding her to the path homeward. Despairingly, she turned to the only shelter she could find. A cave carved into the rock by the winds of time. The cave was dark, and Tyla shivered in the cool night breeze as she entered the mouth of the cave. She stumbled in the darkness until her hands struk something warm and fury. Afraid, she jumped back with a squeak of surprise.” 

Ankaa sat at the edge of her seat and stared intently at the book as Mary turned the page again, “‘Who dares wake me from my slumber,’ growled the beast she had awoken. ‘Please don’t eat me!’ Tyla begged. The beast rumbled with laughter. ‘Such small and unworthy prey would bring me no honor and would only leave me with more hunger than I began with,’ said the great spotted lion before her, ‘Go in peace.’ Tyla bowed low to the lioness, ‘Forgive me great one, but I have lost my way home and the darkness blocks my path.’ Golden eyes looked at her with pity. ‘What must it be like to be so small and feeble,’ it wondered, ‘Fine then, climb upon my paw and I will help you home.’ Tyla did as she was bid and stared gratefully up into the eyes of her rescuer, ‘I shall never forget your kindness and I will do the same for you someday.’ The lion laughed at the bold claims of such a small human cub, ‘You do that little one.’ And with that, the lioness stretched out its paw to rest just beyond the firelight of the village.” 

The page turned again to reveal an image of an ebony skinned beauty, standing tall with spear in hand. “Tyla grew to be a mighty warrior. Her people looked to her for guidance and she led them with the wisdom and pride of a lioness. She was out on a hunt when she spotted men from an enemy tribe dragging a net laden with prey. With a warrior’s cry she charged forward and drove the enemy out, but when she turned to collect the spoils of war she found golden eyes and spotted coat. It was a cub of the lioness that had saved her so many years past. She cut it free of its bonds and took it to her hut where she tended to its wounds. She hunted for the cub and sheltered it in her hut. And when the cub was ready, Tyla returned the cub to her mother and the Nundu and Abahutu peoples became allies forever more.” 

Mary closed the book and smiled down at Nimue. “It goes on to explain how the tribe became the protectors of the young cubs and the lioness Shira guarded the lands of the Abahutu for generations, but you two came here for a reason. I think I have taken us far enough off track for one morning,” she said with a smile. 

Ankaa would have preferred to read the whole story, but the Magizoologist was right. They needed to get back on track. “What do you need me to do to register mine and Nimue’s familiar bond?” 

“Follow me, please,” she said, gesturing to a table behind a screen that separated the only open area in the small office. They followed and Nimue jumped up onto the stand when directed. Mary Bones ran her wand over Nimue a few times before instructing Ankaa, “Please place your hand on your familiar so that I can test your bond.” 

Ankaa did as she was told, placing a hand on Nimue’s head. Nimue rumbled with a deep pur under her hand. Mary’s wand flashed, and Ankaa had to work to not pull her hand back from the zing of static electricity in her fingertips. The Magizoologist looked at her wand in confusion, then did the same motion as before. The zip of energy vibrated all the way into Ankaa’s teeth. Mary’s eyebrows scrunched. “This can’t be right…” she said, “It takes upwards of ten years for a familiar bond to fully solidify. Severus told me when he set up your appointment, that you met your familiar only a few months ago.” 

“That’s right,” Ankaa confirmed. 

“My niece never does anything by halves,” remarked Snape dryly. “Will this cause any problems with her registration paperwork?”

“No not at all,” said the witch with a wave of her hand. “Just the opposite. It means we will get to skip a few steps, actually. I can give you a familiar licence today!” She reached into another draw and pulled out a small silver disk. She touched the tip of her still glowing wand to the coin and the mettle jumped to life. The front of the coin reformed to show the seal of the Magizoology Order, a Thunderbird in flight with a wand in beak and a sprig of Dittany in its talons. The other side of the coin then flashed as it was inscribed with Ankaa’s information. With a flourish of her wand Mary created an intricate loop at the top of the licence. Then she reached into the draw again and retrieved a green leather collar. “This collar is spelled to keep Nimue looking like an ordinary Bengal kitten, the domesticated cousin of African Serval cats. This will keep her from causing panic in either the Muggle or Magical communities. You can activate or release the magic with this…” She pulled out a smaller coin and a green leather strap. She repeated the process and wrapped the bracelet and charm around Ankaa’s wrist twice. 

Ankaa placed the collar on Nimue and asked, “How does it work?” 

“Just hold the charm and it will feel your intent and act accordingly,” she replied. 

Ankaa did as she was told and watched in amazement as Nimue changed. She looked almost the same as when she had first found her in the forbidden forest. Maybe just a tad bit bigger, as if she had grown at a normal kitten rate over the summer instead of the exponential growth that had actually happened. She could almost believe the Nimue was an ordinary cat and not a Nundu cub. 

Mary sighed forlornly, “Well that takes care of all the business you came for. What I wouldn’t give to get to study her more…”

Ankaa’s eyes lit with an idea. “What if we make a trade? If you let me borrow your book on Nundu history, I will agree to bring Nimue here for you to study once a month. Would you be able to give me a pass to visit the ministry during the school year uncle?” 

Severus nodded, “I don’t see why not? Mrs. Bones has been quite helpful in our endeavor to keep Nimue’s true nature discreet.” 

“Of course!” exclaimed Mary in delight. She reached for the book and handed it to Ankaa with no further discussion. “I will be eagerly awaiting your return!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know my chapters are coming a little slower. I need to work on making more pottery for my sales, so it may be a bit before my next chapter. (Plus I have been in more of a reading mood than a writing one lately, sorry.) But if you need something to read while you wait I found a fanfic that I really liked. It is ‘Squib’ by my_wife_made_me_do_it (Love the user name!) I really enjoyed the perspective of a student at Hogwarts without the use of magic!


	8. The End of Summer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! Stress is not conducive to writing and teaching during Covid is nothing but stress...

Severus: 

Severus’s feet dragged as he trudged out of the ashes in the Dursley’s fireplace. The trip to the Ministry with his niece had taken longer than expected and he had hardly slept the night before, what with dealing with a rampant obscurus. He hoped Harry had managed to get some sleep. 

As he reached the first step of the stairs, he took a deep breath and pulled himself up to his full height and donned his outer mask. As he passed Harry’s aunt and uncle’s room, he released the stasis spell he had placed on all the Dursleys. It was probably an unnecessary precaution, but he refused to leave Harry here with them without a safeguard. He gently eased Harry’s door open to find bright green eyes staring watchfully from the pile of blankets on the far corner of the bed. Severus didn’t know if he had woken when he heard footsteps outside his room or if Harry had never gone to sleep. He suspected the latter, from the circles under his tired green eyes. 

Snape sighed and reached for two small vials from his cloak. “Here,” he said handing Harry one of the glass bottles, “This Invigoration Draught will give you enough energy to get through your last swimming lesson today. Then you can get a nap while I keep watch before you get packed up.” 

“Get packed?” Harry asked, perking up. 

Severus downed his own bottle of orange liquid and gave Harry a meaningful look. He waited for him to drink down the draught before answering. “The Malfoys offered to take you shopping for school supplies and drop you off at the Hogwarts Express. I’m sure you would like to get another couple of days with your friends before school starts.” 

Harry smiled broadly and jumped up to get ready for the day. Snape left him to go down stairs and start making breakfast before the Dursley’s roused for the day. It was a Saturday, so they probably won't be up and about for another two hours, especially after being in stasis for the past 4 hours, but would be best for them if he could stay out of their way. He didn’t want to slip up on the last day and kill Vernon after all his careful restraint. However, Severus had built up quite a tolerance for living with lunatics over the years. 

He had just finished making blueberry pancakes, one of Harry’s favorites, when the messy haired boy in question came scampering down the stairs. Harry plopped down in a chair and eagerly devoured the food in front of him. Once he was finished, Harry sat back and gave Severus an odd look. “I never would have guessed that you would be such a great cook,” he said tentatively. 

“Potions and cooking have a lot in common. With both you need to follow instructions carefully, know your ingredients, and pay close attention as your product cooks. It would be safe to say any potions master would be equal or better than any muggle five star chef in the world. I’ve met a few who make a living doing both.” Snape raised an eyebrow as he continued, “Why would I be any different?”

Harry blushed scarlet as he stammered, “S-sorry sir. It’s j-just...”

Snape’s eyebrow rose to his hairline as he looked down his nose at the squirming child, trying hard not to let his mirth slip through his mask. “What? Don’t I look like the sort to enjoy the simple culinary arts?” 

He watched Harry squirm for a few more minutes before gathering him and heading to the pool for his last lesson. 

***

Harry: 

He practically vibrated as he packed for his trip to visit Draco and Ankaa at the Malfoy summer cabin. He never would have been able to sleep if Snape hadn’t given him some tea after his last swimming lesson. He was pretty sure it had been spiked with a Calming Draught, which probably still wouldn’t have worked if it wasn’t for the long night before without a wink of sleep. It was odd how he had come to rely on the dower potions master to keep him safe while living with the Dursleys. He had lived with them for eleven years before Hogwarts, but as soon as Snape had dropped him off at the house so he could take Ankaa to the ministry he had felt sudden terror at the thought of uncle Vernon waking to find him defenseless and alone. Harry knew how much anger Vernon had been bottling up all week long, he didn’t want to be anywhere near him when that anger was released. 

Harry shook himself to rid himself of that unpleasant idea and snapped his trunk closed. He then set about halling the heavy thing down the stairs to meet Professor Snape by the fireplace. 

Severus stood by the fireplace and quickly used  _ Reducio  _ to shrink their bags and tuck them in his pocket. “We’d best be off quickly. The more time you have with the Malfoys, the more time you have to get your supplies. Unless, you would like to… wish them farewell.” 

Harry shook his head and hastily stepped into the sooty flue. Snape followed silently and threw down the green powder, “Malfoy Summer Cabin.” Harry’s head spun as the magical grates flashed past his eyes. When the spinning finally stopped he stumbled out of the unusually tall fireplace and leaned his head against the cool stonework. At least he hadn’t fallen over this time. 

Suddenly a white blond streak came soring out of nowhere and flattened him to the ground. “Harry!” exclaimed the slytherin boy acosting him. Harry laughed at the undignified sprawl Draco had ended up in. It was always a bit of a shock at how different he acted in private. After all, in public he was always expected to maintain a reserved regal pureblood mask. 

Harry looked up as he heard another laugh echoing his own. Aanka stood in the doorway, rolling her eyes at the spectacle before her. At her side was Nimue, her familiar. Harry was about to greet Aanka when the nundu cub slowly stalked forward to pinned both Harry and Draco to the ground with her considerable weight and began grooming their hair into matching sets of porcupine quills. Severus ignored the protests of the squirming children and walked on past to Aanka. “I have some business to attend to at Hogwarts before classes start, so I will be leaving them In your care…” said Severus in his usual severe tone.

Ankaa carefully composed her facial features, “Are you sure that is wise?” 

Snape paused with a thoughtful expression, “I am not certain that anyone can mitigate the consequences of your brothers’ excitable natures, but please try to use your powers of influence for the greater good.” 

Ankaa rolled her eyes with a smile, “I’ve never been much of a fan of the greater good, but I’ll tell you what, I’ll intervene if they try to do anything life-threatening.”

Severus’s lip twitched. “I suppose that will have to do,” he said with a resigned sigh, before turning back to the floo.

Henry finally untangled himself from the hip on the ground. Leaving Draco to struggle in vain against the nundu’s grooming ministrations. He futilely tried to rearrange his hair before running over to Snape. “You’re leaving already?”

“I have some matters to deal with at Hogwarts, but the Malfoys will take you to go shopping for your school supplies in the morning.” 

Harry’s face fell in disappointment. But suddenly he looked up in surprise as a hand fell on his shoulder. 

“Come on Harry. We can get you set up in the guest room next to mine,” said Draco. 

Harry stared at him in silence for a long moment before he and Ankaa burst out laughing. Draco‘s pale blonde hair was sticking out in so many different directions that he looked like he had been struck by lightning


	9. Knockturn Alley

Ankaa:

The next morning, Ankaa was roused by boisterous laughter outside her door. Groaning, she rolled over and buried her face in her familiar’s fur. Nimue’s pur vibrated under her head as she snuggled into the warmth. With a resigned sigh, she rolled out of her warm bed. 

She slipped her silver fluffy house shoes on and reached for her emerald silk robe, tying the sash around her black and silver flannel pajamas to trigger the warming charm. She shuffled over to the heavy emerald curtains by her bed. Pulling them back, she gazed out at the turbulent ocean waves noting the storm clouds in the distance. The swirling dark clouds rumbled across the sky in shades of grey, flashes of green lightning illuminating them in a menacing glow. 

“I guess we won’t be swimming today,” she mumbled to herself as she turned to dress for the day. For some reason she felt a wave of anxiety flow through her, but she chalked it up to the approaching storm as she pulled on a pail blue, almost silver, dress robe. The pail color bringing out the shocking green of her eyes below her white blond hair. Knowing her mother would insist, she pulled her waist long hair into a pile of braids encircling her head like a crown. 

Ready to face the public, she turned to go find her brothers. She found them not far off, in the foyer with her mother. Draco was near the door stifling his giggles as her mom glared down at Harry’s riotous black hair. Harry sat awkwardly on a stool as she diligently fought to tame his locks. He was dressed in a wizarding robe that Ankaa recognized as one Draco had outgrown several years ago. She frowned, noting that even after a year at Hogwarts Harry was still far smaller and under weight for a 12 year old boy. 

Finally, Mother stood with a look of triumph. Harry, for the first time ever, looking presentable for high society. “I’ll go fetch your father,” she says as she hurries from the room. 

Harry fidgeted with his sleeve, looking down. “I feel like I look ridiculous.”

Draco snickered, “Just be glad it is no longer ‘the height of fashion’ to have a frilly lace bib. You should see some of the portraits of my Great Grandfather!”

Harry’s eyes open wide and he nodes his head frantically. 

Ankaa put her arm around the smaller boy’s shoulders, “Don’t listen to him, Harry. I think you look rather dashing.” 

Harry blushed scarlet, but just then her parents came back into the room. “Best be on our way if we want to do some clothes shopping before you need to be on the train,”her mother says, glancing between Harry and her. 

Harry obviously needed to get some suitable clothes of his own, but why was she giving her a look too? Glancing down at her cloak, Ankaa noticed the thin flowy fabric clinging to her chest in a way it never had before. Blushing, she quickly crosses her arms over the offending fabric.  _ When did that happen? _

Looking back up she sees her mother herding Harry into the floo. His eyes are wide as she drops the powder and calls out, “Diagon Alley!”

Her father turns to her, but seeing her with her arms crossed and off to the side, seems to change his mind and gathers Draco instead. He ushers him to the floo and drops a pinch of sparkly powder into Draco’s hand. Draco smiles with acitment and shouts, “Diagon Alley!” as he tosses the powder into the grate. 

Once they are gone, she hurries to the floo by herself. Her ears still burning with embarrassment, she tosses the powder down calling, “D-dia-gon Alley!”

***

Ankaa coughed as she stepped out of the sutty, uncleaned grate. Finally, getting a deep breath she looked at her surroundings and her heart dropped. This was definitely not Diagon Alley. She gazed around a the dingy, creepy little store in disgust. 

At least no one seemed to be around to witness her blunder. She headed for the door to try and get her bearings. The filthy window revealed an alley cast in shadow and covered in scattered piles of refuse. Pearing up and down the narrow road, an inkling of recognition hit her.  _ This was Knockturn Alley! _ The alley her father had forbidden her to ever enter, because many of the shops were fronts for illegal magical creature poachers and slavers. And not all of their “goods” were animals…

She backed away from the door quickly, knowing better than to go out there as an unchaperoned witch. Especially with the way her robe was clinging to her at the moment. She headed deeper into the shop hoping to go unnoticed until her father could hunt her down. She was going to be in sooo much trouble…

Trying to distract herself from that thought, she began examining the creepy trinkets in the store. Skulls, human bones, and even severed hands line the shelves. Disgusted, she turned away only to have her eyes caught by an eerie green light snaking its way between the clutter on the shelves. Checking to make sure no one had joined her in the store, she rounded the corner to a locked glass case below a dingy counter. There on the second shelf from the bottom was a small green stone. 

It looked like an over sized, uncut emerald, but it seemed to glow from within. She was so captivated by the trinket that she didn’t hear the shopkeeper come out from the back. “You have quite a discerning eye, young lady,” says the greasy haired man behind the counter giving her a gap filled, brown toothed smile. 

She backed away quickly, giving him an equally fake smile. “I was just browsing,” she said looking around wairally. 

He looked her up and down with an appraising eye that made her want to gag. “Not many fine, young women wanderdown this alley…”

“My father is just in the next shop over,” shelied quickly. 

His eyes clouded with disappointment momentarily before filling with gread once again. He stooped down to retrieve the stone and set it on a dusty black velvet cushion on the counter. “This artifact here is the acclaimed Eye of Agamotto,” he said with a flourish. 

Ankaa watched him warelly as she stepped closer. Putting on a superior mask, she lifted the stone and looked down her nose at it. Calling his bluff she said, “This is nothing more than a common emerald.” 

His eyes flashed with worry before he straightened, feigning outrage, “I’ll have you know that I received this from a very reputable dealer.” 

She stared at him, emotionless mask in place, until he cracked. “All right, maybe reputable is not the right word…”

She lifted her eyebrow channeling her uncle Severus. “And you trust this… person?”

He glowered at her, “All right, it’s probably fake, but a gem is a gem. Fifty Gallions.” 

She had about 124 Gallions, 8 Sickles, and 23 Knuts in her inner robe pocket. Along with a pad of Goblin Notes of course. But 50 Gallions was still far too overpriced, even for and emerald of that size. “Two.”

He gaped at her, “Your father obviously didn’t teach you how to barter, little lady.”

“You obviously don’t know your market,” she sniffed. “I could get a bag of uncut emeralds for one Gallion, and you don’t even know if this is a genuine emerald,” she guessed. 

He glared down his nose at her, “Ten.”

Giving him her best blank stare she said, “Three.”

He was starting to turn purple, “Eight, and that is as low as I can go.”

Sighing she turned as if to leave. She didn’t get far before he shouted, “FINE! THREE!”

Hiding her smirk, she set the coins on the counter and he shoved the stone into her hand. She dropped it into her cloak pocket and turned to leave. It wasn’t until the door clicked behind her that she remembered where she was. She glanced over her shoulder and saw the shopkeeper watching her.  _ What would he do when he realized that she was alone? _

Panicked, she looked up and down the road. She knew Knockturn Alley emptied out into Diagon Alley somewhere. Making a snap decision, she turned right and hurried away, keeping to the plentiful shadows. She had only walked a few blocks when she heard footsteps behind her. She didn’t turn to look, because she could feel the eyes boring into her back.  _ Did it even matter who was following her? _

Quickly, she ducked down a path to her left and into the first shop she saw to try and get away from her pursuer. She hid behind the nearest shelves as a man with wavy blond hair and striking blue eyes, poked his head through the door. He glanced around suspiciously before backing back outside. Ankaa held her breath as she watched his figure wander angrily past the tinted shop windows. 

“Ankaa?”

She let out an undignified squeak as she spun around, wand out, to face the bearded man towering over her. “Hagrid?”

Not seeming to notice her wand, he stepped forward, “Ankaa, What a’ yah doin’ in ah place like ‘is?”

Feeling an embarrassing sting behind her eyes, she rushed forward to wrap her arms around his midsection. 

The half giant awkwardly patted her back with his meaty paw. “Best just get yah out o’ ‘is shady place,” he mumbles as he ushers her out of the door. 

By the time they reached the light of Diagon Alley she had regained her composure. “What were you doing down there Hagrid?”

That store sells the strongest flesh eating slug repellent in England. Nothing I have tried over the summer has kept ‘em away from the school’s cabbages, or made a lick o’ difference.” 

“Well thank you for your assistance back there,” she said,her voice filled with emotion. “I best hurry to locate my family. My father will worry.” With that quick farwell she headed off into the crowd. Promising herself that she would find an appropriate gift for Hagrid while she shopped with her mother. 


	10. School Shopping

Ankaa:

After leaving Hagrid, Ankaa found a shadowed wall. Out of notice of the pedestrians, she leaned her forehead against the cool stone taking slow deep breaths. She was mad. And she had no idea why. It made sense to be afraid at the time, she had been in danger after all, but why was fury surging through her veins? Deep down she knew the reason, she just didn’t want to delve into the part of her that knew what kind of danger she had been in. Looking down at her hands she could see the thin tendrils of smoke swirling around her hands like the emotions in her heart. She needed to calm down before she went all Obscurus on their asses. 

It took her a long time to quell her righteous fury. She didn’t want to kill anyone… well she did, but she would probably feel bad later. Probably. She let out one last long breath before looking up. Surprised, she realized that the wall she was leaning on belonged to the quidditch shop. Smiling, she gleefully entered the shop. Her family could probably wait a few more minutes. 

Her mother never let her come in here without her. She was terribly concerned that she would catch her husband and son’s fascination with the unlady like sport. Unbeknownst to her, it was already far too late. She trailed her fingers over the jerseys, leather gloves, and cans of polish. Finding her way over to the Slytherin section of the large shop, a cunning thought crosses her mind.  _ If she were to purchase items with the coins she had on her and mailed them to her dorm room, her mother would never know… _

Thinking fast, she gathered gloves, boots, knee and elbow pads, a leather womens helmet with a slit to pull a ponytail through, and a pair of never fog goggles. She was sure that Harry would let her borrow his set of Quidditch balls to practice. He might even help her practice, Draco on the other hand she would have to be careful with. She didn’t want him tataling to mother or extorting favors. She knew she couldn’t keep it from him forever, he and Harry were both planning to try out for the Slytherin team this year, but if she could make the team before her mother found out, father may be so proud he could convince her to let Ankaa play. 

She was just about to head to the counter when her eyes fell on the display of brooms. Draco and her had bought a Nimbus 2001 for Harry. Then a few weeks later father had surprised Draco with one of his own for “good luck” trying out for the Slytherin team. Ankaa had been insanely jealous, but she knew better than to voice her opinions with her mother in the room. She knew her mother was just being overly protective of her. 

Narcissa had always been more protective of her, than Draco. Once she had asked her father why and he had told her that when she and Draco were born, they had thought they had lost her. It had broken her mother’s heart, but when she heard her cry for the first time she vowed to never let anything hurt her ever again. Ankaa had never blamed her mother after that, but that didn’t make the frustration go away. 

Ankaa ran her hand down one of the silky smooth handles. Looking at the prices she frowned. She didn’t have enough money with her to purchase on outright and if she used the Goblin Notes her mother might see the bank records. Just then a sales woman with striking gold eyes that reminded her of a certain professor, approached her. “Is there anything I can help you with?” she said flipping her long black hair behind her ear. 

The sales woman looked like she was just out of Hogwarts, but she might just look young for her age. Either way, Ankaa felt a small amount of kinship with her. “I’m in the market for a Quidditch broom, but my mother would not approve,” Ankaa drawled. 

The sales woman gave her a sympathetic smile, “Sadly that story is more common than you would think. Women have been allowed to play in professional quidditch matches since 1936, but most purebred families still find it impolite.” She rolled her eyes, “You should hear the story my mother tells of the all out family feud she went through, but now she is teaching at Hogwarts.” 

“Your Madam Hooch’s daughter? I thought your eyes looked familiar,” Ankaa said with a smile.

“Yeah, I’m Dahmianna, but most just call me Dahmi,” she said. 

Ankaa shook her hand with a smile, “I’m Ankaa Malfoy.” Her smile fell when she remembered her predicament, “Unfortunately I didn’t know I would get the chance to sneak away and come here by myself, so I didn’t bring enough coin to buy a broom with cash. If I use my Goblin Notes, my mother might catch on.”

Dahmi tapped her bottom lip in thought, “When my mother was looking for a broom she had to go directly to a broom maker. Leonard Jewkes was just a broom craftsman, but he was too stubborn and picky to work for a company that would dictate what materials he could use so they could mass produce the brooms. She was the reason his Silver Arrow became famous, but unfortunately he was unable to keep up with demand and fell back into obscurity.” Giving Ankaa a knowing wink she continued, “He never stopped working though. Actually, he sent my mother a few of his more recent prototypes for her to test. I have one in the back. I’ll sell it to you for whatever coin you have left after that pile over there.”

Ankaa shook her head, “I couldn’t! I don’t even have enough on me for your cheepes broom.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Dahmi said, “You're a Malfoy, I’m sure you're good for it. You can owl me the rest later. Besides, I was a Slytherin too and that team could always need a few more women on it.” 

Ankaa agreed with a broad smile and followed Dahmianna to the back of the store. They went into an old fashioned workshop type room with a big oak table surrounded by broom tools and spare parts. There lying in the center of the table wreathed in warm light was a beautiful broom. The ebony sticks on the end were waxed into an expertly quaffed teardrop shape. The metal gleamed a silvery white against the presently polished dark walnut handle. At the very end of the handle was a silver inscription that read:  _ Astra. _

Ankaa trailed her fingertips down the long broom handle in wonder. 

***

Ankaa’s pockets were much lighter, just like her heart as she exerted the Quidditch shop. She already missed her broom terribly, but knew it would have to be shipped directly to Hogwarts to escape her mother’s notice. Knowing she needed to find her family before her father had a coronary, she headed towards the Floo Terminal. She had only been missing for 30 minutes or so, but when she found her family her mother’s eyes filled with unshed tears. “Where have you been!” she all but shouted at Ankaa. 

Ankaa looked down embarrassed. “I got lost in the floo network and came out at a store I didn’t recognise,” she said truthfully. “It took me a while to find my way back here.” 

It was a common story, children going missing in the floo network. That was why most mainstream floss had room for an adult and a child. She and Draco hardly ever traveled by themselves by floo, but she had never gotten lost before. She had been careless. 

Her mother pulled her into a long hug before they all moved on to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Narcissa fusses around her first, helping her to find an array of new clothes that fit much more comfortably along with some new school robes in the same size. Once she is finally released from her mother’s clutches, she gladly sacrifices Harry to save herself. His eyes go wide and his face turns red as he is led to the dressing room. 

Ankaa slumps in an armchair next to her father and Draco who look equally uncomfortable in the clothes shop. They watch hurricane Narcissa as she flits about the room gathering cloak after cloak for Harry to try on. “I feel bad for him, but I’m not ready for my turn,” mutters Draco. 

Lucius hides his smile behind his finger, “She means well.”

It feels like hours before they are ready to move on. They stopped at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour for a quick snack before heading to Flourish and Blotts. As they drew closer it became quite clear that there was some kind of commotion at the store. The store was full to bursting and the streat in front was a throng of people entering and exiting the store. Suddenly, Ankaa found herself accosted by a main of curly brown hair. 

“Ankaa, Ankaa! Isn't it wonderful,” Hermione cried as she shook her, “We’ll actually get to meet him!”

“Meet who?” Ankaa sputtered around the curls that were attempting to invade her mouth and eyes. 

Hermione was either too excited to hear her words or the crowd was too loud, but she began towing her into the store as Draco and Harry followed. As they entered the store the cacophony of excited chatter filled her ears and she bumped into someone as Hermione pulled her along. 

“Ankaa?” George Weasley asked.

Finally freeing herself from Hermione’s grasp, Ankaa, Draco, and Harry stopped at the edge of the store to face the Weasley twins and another red haired girl. “High Fred and George,” Draco greats, “What mischief have you been upto?” 

They give him matching evil smirks, but keep their secrets to themselves for now. “Have you met our sister yet?” they say in unison sharing a look before turning to Harry. 

The little red head turns even redder as her brother’s push her forward. “I-I’m Genny,” she stammers, glancing at Harry. 

“I’m Ankaa,” she greats, stepping up to the little girl giving her brothers a shake of the head. They shake hands and she introduces Harry and Draco quickly. The poor girl was already embarrassed enough and looked like she just wanted to not be the center of attention anymore. She then turned to Fred and asked, “What is going on?” 

“You haven’t heard that the man that slays demons, tames ogers, and probably walks on water has deigned to grace us with his presence and sign our lowly books?” he said sarcastically. 

Ankaa’s eyes follow the long line of students and frenzied housewives until she finds the source of the commotion. In the center of attention is a man with eerily familiar blond hair and blue eyes in garish forget-me-not blue robes. Her stomach rolls as she recognizes the man that followed her down the dark alley just a few hours ago. 

His eyes snap to hers as if he sensed her eyes on him and his eyes narrow with recognition before traveling over her shoulder. “It  _ can’t  _ be Harry Potter?”

Every eye in the store turned to their little group as Ankaa’s throat filled with revolution. She stood shock still as the man clambered over to Harry and shook his hand for the cameras. She had to use every ounce of control she could muster not to rip Harry out of his reach and run out the door. “Nice big smile, Harry,” says the creep. “Together you and I are worth the front page!” he says gleefully, holding Harry to his side as the paparazzi shouts “Harry!” “Lockhart!”

Harry finally escapes the throng carrying a stack of books after a showy speech by the peacock that announced that he would be the new defence against the dark arts teacher, much to Ankaa’s horror. Harry, equally disgusted, pitches the collection of signed books into the youngest Weasley’s caldron. “I’ll buy my own,” he grouses out. 

Quickly Ankaa and her brothers gather the books they need and head for the counter. With a paing of resentment she realizes that they will not have the chance to browse the books for their customary stacks of new reading material for the school year. 

They relocate their parents and spend a few more hours checking off the last of the items off of their second year school list of supplies. Once all the shopping was completed, they had a little over an hour to spare before they needed to leave to meat the train. They were milling about wondering what to do with their spare time, when Lucius came over with a mischievous smile hidden in his eyes. “Well Harry has his owl, and Ankaa has her little monster. I think it's only fair that Draco gets the chance to choose a familiar of his own. Don’t you think?”

Draco’s eyes go wide and he practically vibrates all the way to the Magical Menagerie. They enter the crowded shop. Ankaa’s eye was caught by a flash of bright colors in a dimly lit cage labeled Harlequin Toads. The brightly colored frogs swam through a small little pond and climbed into a woven collection of tree branches. When Draco peeked over her shoulder to see what she was looking at, he had to tamp down a lady like shriek. He backed away quickly shaking his head emphatically. 

Harry stifled a giggle and led him deeper into the store to find something more suited to Draco’s taste. She follows them over to the row of cat kennels. Draco is staring closely at a siamese cat with bright blue eyes. It comes to the kennel door as if it wants a closer look too, just before it hisses and spits in his face making him jump. Grumbling, Draco heads back to the reptiles staying far away from the toads. 

He heads for a wall of tanks filled with turles, lizards, and snakes. Most of the creatures were in tanks filled with many of their own kind, but Draco’s eyes fell on the only tank that seemed empty. There under a hollowed out log, hidden in the shadows, was a chocolate brown snake. The snake's amber eyes glowed in the shadows as it watched Draco with weary eyes. 

Ankaa stepped forward to read the inscription on the tank. It read “Orlov’s Viper” in faded script. The tank was dusty as if it had hardly been opened in the long time the snake had been confined. A pang of sadness filled her at the thought and she lifted her sleeve to clear the glass so at least it could have a little more sun to warm it. Then she turned to the nearest window and opened the shutters to let in more light. 

When she turned back around the small snake was slowly making its way out to curl up in the sun. Draco and Harry moved in close as it blinked up at them making a small hissing sound. To her surprise Harry began making a low hissing noise as well. She rolled her eyes at his childish antics as he mimicked the snake to try to get its attention. 

Then the snake reared its head to face Harry, giving him its full attention. A shiver of realization ran down her spine as Harry gave a hissing laugh at something the snake said. Wide she watched him speak in parseltongue to the beautiful chocolate brown snake, with cream colored zig zags running down either side of its body. But even more shocking,the longer she listened, the more words she began to understand. It was just like the Mirror of Erised last year at Hogwarts. The longer she stared at forin symbols or listened to odd syllables the more they began to make sense. 

“ _... not ssso sssure about this one _ ,” hissed the snake. 

“ _ He’s not sssoooo bad. He caress more than he letsss on,”  _ hissed Harry.  __

_“I didn't know you could ssspeak parssseltongue!_ ” Ankaa heard herself hiss. Gasping, she clasped her hands over her lips in surprise. 

Eyes wide Draco glanced between the two of them. “What’s going on…” he said as if he wasn’t sure if he really wanted to know. 

  
The snake blinked at them slowly, “ _ You wizzzard hatchlings are odd…” _


End file.
